Trying, for a Change
by AnHeiressofaSOLDIER
Summary: In somewhat bonding with Louis' friends a bit, Ren decides that she could try a bit harder to understand things from Louis' point of view.


**Trying, for a Change**

Sometimes Ren Stevens really found herself looking at the table Louis' friends sat at during lunch, and wondering.

She pondered a lot when it came to Twitty, honestly. And though most of the time she thought he was a moron, there were certainly times he interested her.

Not like that. God, no. For if he himself ever got stuck in a situation like Ren had in her own dream, she seriously doubted that he'd even know about their country going to the moon in Nineteen-Sixty-Nine to sing about it.

Twitty certainly wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed... But sometimes Ren did feel sorry for him. Like right now, when he was failing at everything.

Louis had told Ren, that Twitty had told him, that he'd tried to feed a baby recently... Only for him to somehow get the infant's food atop his own forehead by mistake.

Ren shook her head in disbelief at the very thought of that.

So, steeling her resolve—and moving away from Nelson, who looked like he was revering her way too much right now—Ren left her own lunch table, and headed over to where Louis, Tawny, Twitty, and Tom were all hanging out.

Tawny, it looked like, was trying to read a book on acting, but to do it discreetly.

Louis, lately, had been trying to write a joke book, with actual good jests in it (and he was even working on the thing now, it looked like), but most of the lines in them were above Ren. What exactly was so funny about the phrase "that's what she said", anyway?

Tom... Poor Tom—Ren decided, as she waved to him first—seemed to be trying to salvage cookies of his that had gotten squashed through a Ziploc bag.

And Twitty, as to be expected, had his head buried in his arms, that he was resting on the bench.

Deciding that Twitty was her business—if for no other reason than his complimenting her on her singing and getting her into the band—Ren sidled up to Alan, and said with her arms crossed over her chest, "Just because you messed up one baseball game doesn't mean that you have to let it ruin everything else in your life. You just need to practice more. Do what I do, and consider something similar to help you through it.

"Like, if I need help writing comedy, then I read snippets of the Harry Potter books for inspiration."

To be honest, there was a part of Ren that hated to admit that she was reading those children's novels. She should have been focusing on much more challenging reads during her spare time.

But what could she say? J.K. Rowling's work had really taken off; and if Twitty was going to understand any of her allusions to the written word, it would be that one.

Besides, so far Harry's story had been good for breaking a lot of clichés, and so Ren enjoyed the tale for that-if for nothing else.

"Why are you offering advice, Ren?" Louis surprised the eighth grader by asking this.

And in getting a quick look at her brother's face, the brunette could tell that Louis wasn't mad, per se; just curious.

But when Ren peered over Louis' shoulder to read some of his work, she saw he'd made a joke in the notebook, about those tormenting his best friend right now were the stupid ones and the fools.

So… if Louis was really feeling that strongly about his friends' embarrassment lately, Ren thought that he (and the others) were probably secretly all ears about any of her ideas to combat that.

But feeling slightly frustrated and strange about the whole situation now, Ren just blurted out, "Because it's just so obvious that he should learn how to play Cricket, so that he can better send a softball flying. That's why!"

And without another word on the subject, the genius stormed off.

Sometime later—when Ren was in-between classes and nearing the Wexlavator with a heavy heart—Ruby latched onto her arm and asked her in a chipper voice, "So have you heard that your brother's girlfriend, Tawny, is trying out for the school talent show now? She's going to sing for her audition."

Slowing down—so that she could get to her locker and get her French book out of it, without crashing into said locker—Ren found herself thinking aloud:

"I mean, that's not too surprising. I've seen firsthand that she has a pretty good voice, when singing with others. But why would she risk trying to serenade people by herself, I wonder?"

Ren was starting to have her suspicions, especially since she herself meant to take part in the same contest.

"Who knows?" Ruby admitted, excitedly (clearly loving a good mystery), as she handed her best friend the book she'd been looking for, when all the supplies from the bottom portion of Ren's locker ended up falling onto her feet.

Ren let out a curse, as she began trying to specifically get her colored pencils back into the box they had escaped from.

Once everything was in order again—and Ren was prepared to go learn the language in the room next door that Ruby was proficient in—she turned to her soul sister, who was giving her an expectant look, and said this"

"I wonder if she's wanting to help me win the contest—by letting my voice stand out compared to hers—because I sort of helped out Louis today.

"I think his friends believe Donnie and I don't cut him enough slack sometimes. Anyway, I'll see you later, Rubs. Okay?"

And after giving the girl a quick one-armed hug, Ren resigned herself to an entire period of trying to correctly pronounce "de Chagny".

Thoughts about Louis' nightmare that he had detailed on one Hanukkah, though, we're coming back to her. And she decided that if one of Lou's friends could do so much for her, maybe she could try harder to make his true smile (that he showed so reluctantly) appear more often...

Like it had for a brief instance today.

 **Author's Note: Don't really know where this came from… But it's probably in that I've caught a few episodes of Even Stevens on Disney replay this year, and it's made me realize that I really like Louis and Ren's sibling bond. -shrugs-**


End file.
